FERC reports new biomass power capacity came online in September

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects has published its Energy Infrastructure Update for September 2013, reporting that three biomass-fired power generation units were brought into service during the month, representing a total capacity of 5 megawatts (MW).

According to FERC data, 57 biomass power units were brought online during the first 9 months of 2013, with a total combined capacity of 192 MW. During the same period of 2012, 102 units representing 413 MW of capacity were placed into service.

As of the close of September, the report estimates there are 15.2 gigawatts (GW) of installed biomass capacity in the U.S. That capacity accounts for approximately 1.31 percent of total operating generating capacity.

Within the September report, the FERC highlighted GreenWhey Energy’s 3.2 MW biomass-fueled project in Polk County, Wis., which is now online. The project features two anaerobic digesters that convert wastewater from cheese processing plants into electricity. The resulting power is sold under long-term contracts to Excel Energy.

In addition to the three biomass units, energy producers in the U.S. also placed into service five solar units with 7 MW of capacity, one wind unit with 2 MW of capacity, and one natural gas unit with 45 MW of capacity during the month of September. The data shows no new or expanded coal, nuclear, oil, hydro, geothermal or waste heat units were placed into service during the month.